A blog post by Scott Belsky, chief product officer and executive vice president, Creative Cloud, Adobe, announced that the company acquired Allegorithmic, makers of Substance, the industry standard for 3D textures and material creation in game and video post-production. Hardcore gamers may be familiar with Allegorithmic's captivating 3D textures and graphics that are used in some of the world's most popular video games. According to an official Adobe press release, "By combining Allegorithmic's Substance 3D design tools with Creative Cloud's industry-leading imaging, video and motion graphics tools, Adobe will empower video game creators, VFX artists working in film and television, designers and marketers to deliver the next generation of immersive experiences." Allegorithmic is a fascinating company, but how does this acquisition fit in the Adobe ecosystem? Late last year, Adobe announced its intent on going all-in on augmented reality (AR) during its Adobe Max conference.

With the London Symphony Orchestra performing machine-written symphonies, Amazon selling books written by algorithms and film-makers scripting screenplays after conversations with a PC, are computers evolving from being a mere tool into becoming a creative force in their own right? One of the differences between humans and machines has often been said to be creative thought. But several efforts are under way to let computers seek inspiration from their surrounding environment to create art. For example, a new experiment by Volkswagen creates music based on a car's speed, steering and whether it is in the city or countryside. Developed with the musicians Underworld - who composed the track played during the lighting of the London Olympics cauldron - the app generates music in real-time for passengers in the car.